RURAL VIEW BY

Perhaps when at sea, Christmas passed without recognition as a very special time – there are professions whose workers regard Christmas time as ordinary working days.

Years ago, when I was a bobby patrolling the town of Whitby and its harbour-side, I spotted a fishing boat heading out to sea with Christmas decorations inside the cabin. I thought it was a good idea but whether it carried any superstitious message, I cannot be sure. I saw it only once. Maybe it was celebrating the birthday of a crew member? Or someone’s first fishing trip?

With regard to superstitions among the fishing community, I did hear of cats being sacrificed if fishing cobles were involved in a tragedy of any kind, but sometimes cats were destroyed to ensure a safe return from the sea. Another custom at Runswick Bay was carried out as the fishing boats returned to the harbour in bad weather.

As the boats aimed for a safe landing, children would assemble around bonfires on the cliff top and chant: Souther, wind, souther

Blow father home to mother.

Among the many beliefs and superstitions along the coast, there used to be an old belief that sea-anemones turned into herrings in the later stages of their lives, and it was for this reason that the anemones were often known as herring-shine.

Perhaps the creatures that were the most obvious targets for superstitious people were the various types of seagull. I am not sure whether this applies to all gulls or to particular ones. One old belief was that seagulls carried the souls of sailors who had died, particularly those who had perished at sea. It seems to have been an ancient belief that was rarely discussed by the fisherfolk, but nonetheless it seems to have been deeply engrained within their minds.

This produced a strong belief that when a sailor died, he turned into a seagull. An extension of this occurred if a seagull flew in a very straight line – it was said to be following an unseen dead body of a sailor who had perished at sea and whose body was moving along the seabed.

If a seagull flew against the glass of a window of a house, it was interpreted as a warning that a member of the household would die at sea. Three gulls flying together overhead was considered a bad omen for the person who witnessed them; it could foretell the death of the householder or someone near to him.

Perhaps the best known seagull superstition is that gulls coming inland in flocks are signs of impending bad weather.

I think this continues to be widely believed both on the coast and inland, while there is a possibility that and it might be true. Seagulls and other birds will often be aware of storms and bad weather long before we humans are, and will take the necessary precautionary action.

One of the more curious and perhaps more widely spread beliefs is that good luck will follow anyone who can touch a sailors’ collar. It is more effective if done without his knowledge!

One common belief was that a ship’s bell represented its soul, and it was believed a bell always rang when a ship sank in a storm or from any other cause. If a bell on board rang without reason it was considered a very bad omen, as was the sound of a bell ringing beneath the waves.

It is said that the sound of a bell ringing beneath the waves can occasionally be heard just off shore at Whitby, particularly during stormy weather. The story is that when King Henry VIII destroyed Whitby Abbey during his founding of the new Church of England, he said he wished to keep the Abbey’s splendid ring of fine bells. They were salvaged from the wreck of the Abbey and Henry arranged for the entire ring of bells to be transported to London by ship, whereupon they would either be installed in one of his properties or he would sell them. The townspeople were horrified by his actions but there was nothing they could do. A crowd gathered in sorrow to watch the ship leave Whitby harbour with their precious bells on board, and many were in tears.

But shortly after the ship set sail from Whitby harbour, it capsized for no apparent reason and it was impossible to either salvage it or the ring of bells. They remain on the seabed somewhere opposite the Abbey ruins and it is said that on some silent nights, those bells can still be heard, eerily sounding beneath the waves.